Former U.S. Postal Service worker admits burning mail for months

Updated on: January 13, 2018 / 10:14 AM
/ AP

ALEXANDRIA, La. -- A federal prosecutor says a former U.S. Postal Service worker who burned at least 20 tubs of mail over five months has pleaded guilty to a single count of delaying or destroying the mail. His sentencing is set for April 6.

U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook said in a news release Friday that 50-year-old Mark Wayne Thompson took mail from his rural postal route in Louisiana to his home in Pitkin, where from Dec. 1, 2016 to May 1, 2017, he burned at least 20 tubs of mail.

The former letter carrier now faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.